
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ ideological identification was steady in 2024, with an average of 37% describing their political views as “very conservative” or “conservative,” 34% as “moderate,” and 25% as “very liberal” or “liberal.” However, this stability masks new highs in the percentages of Republicans identifying as conservative and Democrats as liberal.
Americans’ Ideological Identification Was Steady in 2024
None of the three main ideological groupings of Americans — conservatives, moderates and liberals — has had majority-level status since Gallup began tracking ideology with this measure in 1992. Rather, conservatives and moderates have been closely matched as the two leading groups, while liberals have consistently accounted for a smaller share.
Still, the trend documents changes in the relative strength of each group.
- Most notably, the percentage of Americans identifying as moderate has declined from an average of 43% in 1992 to 34% in 2024, while conservatism has been fairly steady, fluctuating around the three-decade mean of 38%.
- As a result, moderates fell from being the largest ideological group in the 1990s to tying with conservatives in the early 2000s and lagging conservatives slightly during […]
It’s interesting that the article never really tried to discuss the causes of the change from moderate to more conservative. Media has influenced political ideology the most, I believe. And what station has the most viewers? Fox News! And there are several other extremely conservative stations as well. The majority of Americans watch Fox News more than any other station. And what do they get? Totally the ultra-conservative views and omissions of what also is going on in this country. It often presents disinformation, misinformation and even lies, for which it has been sued.
Until Congress has the foresight and courage to pass laws that give huge fines to stations that actually lie and present misinformation or disinformation, the people who watch Fox News will not know the truth about what is planned, said, and existing. It is absolutely necessary that Congress must realize that false news, lies, disinformation harm democracy. How can voters pick a candidate if the news media lies about his/her credentials or actions? Fines in the millions are needed since these stations are so wealthy and a measly fine would have no impact or encourage truth-telling on their stations. Does Congress have the courage to do the right thing for democracy?